[STBI-180706] Green Space and Deaths Attributable to the Urban Heat Island Effect in Ho Chi Minh City

Dear professors, colleagues and students,

We would like to invite you to participate in the 2018 STBI Brown Bag Series at the UEH School of Economics.

We welcome Dr. Tran Ngoc Dang to present his ideas during the Brown Bag session.

Topic: Green Space and Deaths Attributable to the Urban Heat Island Effect in Ho Chi Minh City

Time: 11:30 – Friday, 6th July, 2018

Venue: Room H.001, Campus H, UEH School of Economics, 1A Hoang Dieu, Phu Nhuan District

The language of presentation: Vietnamese

Abstract

Objectives. To quantify heat-related deaths in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, caused by the urban heat island (UHI) and explore factors that may alleviate the impact of UHIs.

Methods. We estimated district-specific meteorological conditions from 2010 to 2013 using the dynamic downscaling model and calculated the attributable fraction and number of mortalities resulting from the total, extreme, and mild heat in each district. The difference in attributable fraction of total heat between the central and outer districts was classified as the attributable fraction resulting from the UHI. The association among attributable fraction, attributable number with a green space, population density, and budget revenue of each district was then explored.

Results. The temperature–mortality relationship between the central and outer areas was almost identical. The attributable fraction resulting from the UHI was 0.42%, which was contributed by the difference in temperature distribution between the 2 areas. Every 1-square-kilometer increase in green space per 1000 people can prevent 7.4 deaths caused by heat.

Conclusions. Green space can alleviate the impacts of UHIs, although future studies conducting a heath economic evaluation of tree planting are warranted.

Speaker: Tran Ngoc Dang

Dr. Tran Ngoc Dang, is currently a lecturer in Department of Environmental Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City (UMP HCMC). He obtained his bachelor degree in Public Health from UMP HCMC in 2010. He got the Japanese Government scholarship (MEXT) to pursue his master of Public Health degree, majoring in molecular epidemiology; and the doctoral degree majoring in environmental epidemiology at the university of Tsukuba in 2014, and 2017 respectively. So far he has published about 20 peer-reviewed publications in ISI international journals, including prestigious journals such as Environmental Health Perspective, American Journal of Public Health, Scientific Reports, Plos Neglected Tropical Diseases, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, BMC Medical Genetics.

He has involved in a project funded by National Foundation for Science and Technology Development (NAFOSTED), in which he plays a role as a data analyst. Dang has expertise and solid skills in biostatistics. He also the founder of “Bayes for Vietnam” website, where people share tutorials on how applying Bayesian using R into medical sciences (https://sites.google.com/site/bayesforvietnam/). Currently, Dang is a journal official, and statistical advisor for the MedPharmRes journal, an international journal of UMP HCMC. He also is a reviewer for several international journals, including Plos One, American Journal of Public Health, International Journal of Biometeorology.

To get more information, you can visit the website: http://se.ueh.edu.vn/vi/the-2018-stbi-brown-bag-series/

The 2018 STBI (Small Talk Big Idea) Brown Bag Series is built upon the success of the STBI Seminar. This year, the organizing team has decided to experiment with a new format to make the event less formal and more open. It is held from 11:30 a.m to 12:15 p.m. and the speaker and audience will have 10 minutes to mingle and complete their lunch of bánh mì which is normally wrapped in brown bags. The School of Economics will provide free coffee and water for everyone and a sandwich/bánh mì lunch for the speaker. If the weather permits, the presentation will be held in the lobby area at the School’s venue on Hoang Dieu Street, Phu Nhuan District.
You are encouraged to bring your own bánh mì for lunch and mingle with the speaker at the beginning of the session.

Organizing Team